Getting Clean

[your_comforting_company]

something I never see mentioned here is getting clean in such a situation. There is a certain comfort in taking a bath after a day in the dirt. supposing you are bugged out for some duration you'll need to make soap. You are gonna want to wash those dirty stinky clothes too.. I thought I'd start a thread with laundry in mind, because it's what we've done so far. We are learning things about soapmaking, I mean, not just recipes, but the science behind it. I thought some of you might have knowledge to share, too, so lets stop talking about getting dirty for a while and talk about getting clean.

This recipe does call for items that are purchased, but the economy of the purchase is outstanding. This one is great for anyone looking to cut corners on the budget.. we did it and even my grody clothes come clean. We used half this recipe and made enough washing powders for 144 loads, vs. the 48 loads in a $10 bottle of liquid. We bought enough ingredients to make the whole batch for $12, but only did half to "test the water" so to speak.

12 cups Borax
8 cups Baking Soda
8 cups Washing Soda
8 cups Bar soap (grated)

Mix all ingredients well and store in a sealed tub.
Use 1/8 cup of powder per full load.

It's recipe 9 here.
and there's some good FAQ there too.

there are certain things that need to happen and some ingredients that can be found occurring naturally. I'll be exploring natural sources of this stuff in coming months.
We're also gonna be making some lye soap soon. Gonna try different fats and flower oils, like gardenia, camelia, and banana-shrub, as well as working with the wood ashes.. you gotta get dirty to get clean
we have also harvested some chinaberries for making soap. they contain saponin but apparently don't make suds. You can also make a solution from them to spray on garden plants.

so lets get clean. if you have some soapmaking info to share post it up!

I'd like to primarily focus on the science of it and finding natural sources. What makes soap "soapy"? Yucca solution will get dirt off your hands and skin but doesn't make suds... this kind of info will help you more in a long-term survival situation moreso than any single recipe with no knowledge of how it works. maybe the recipe and the money savings will get folks interested tho. Try it.. you'll save money.

I put some in a spray bottle and have been using it as a scent killer. our laundry has that "airy" clean smell. I like it.

If my posts seem wildly out of place at times, stop me please lol.

Washing soda is Sodium Carbonate Decahydrate. Baking Soda is Sodium Bicarbonate. No they are not interchangeable and results will vary if substituting one for the other.
You don’t want to use a bar of soap heavy with perfumes or oils since this may transfer to your clothing (stains). They may also cause a chemical reaction with the other detergent ingredients.
You can use any soap that lists sodium palmate, sodium cocoate, sodium tallowate, etc. Just be sure you are using real soap and not detergent beauty bars with added free oils

...from that site, this is the kind of info we wanna get in here

[pocomoonskyeyes]

YCC you have a natural Soapbush all around you in the swamps. It's called, ironically, Soapbush - Clethra alnifolia. When you are out and about find this bush to clean up. Just grab a handful of leaves dip your hands in water and scrub while crushing the leaves. It will lather quite nicely. I used to use this one all the time to awe the tourists when I worked in the swamp. A word of caution though, it will remove all the oils from your skin if used a lot. We used to keep a bottle of lotion in the boat dock shelter just for this reason. To keep our skin from drying out.

[your_comforting_company]

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CLAL3
http://hcs.osu.edu/hcs/TMI/Plantlist/cl_folia.html
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/res...id_plant=CLAL3

I've seen it around, but couldn't identify it using the books.
I'll be locating some more soon and giving it a try, Will report back.

Thanks Mel, good info!

[ClayPick]

I’ve noticed a few different plants making suds when they get soaked in water and always thought it was from phosphorus. Not being well heeled in organic chemistry, I figured it must be similar to phosphate which is in soap. Now I’m wondering if Clethra alnifolia is high in phosphorus? Saving a buck is always high on my list and will try the soap recipe.

[SARKY]

A couple of things we taught at SERE
1: Air bath, take all your clothes off an expose as much of your self to the sun, the UV radiation will kill most of the bacteria on your skin (and for many of you here....scare away any predators)
2: disposeable wipes, just read the directions and have at it.
3: without soap or a soaping/sudsing plant simply rinse your clothes in clear water several times, ring out between rinses and hang out to dry.

[Rick]

You know you are incorrigible don't you?

Whenever hiking one of the things I always do is air bathe my feet whenever I stop and at lunch. That few minutes of sunshine and air can do wonders as Sarky said.

[Old GI]

"... Air bath, take all your clothes off an expose as much of your self to the sun, the UV radiation will kill most of the bacteria on your skin... "


A lot of young ladies in Europe adhere to that practice as well. There is this tory when I was teaching SCUBA at a lake in Germany and ............... . Oops, nevermind (here she comes).

[Rick]

I'm beginning to think the only reason you jumped out of those planes was because Mrs. Old GI was in the plane and after you. Geronimooooooooooooooooo.

[Old GI]

Naaaah. That was my ex and I was just escaping. Actually, it all started with a bet during a Happy Hour at Bragg in '71 and yeah alcohol was involved). Something like "You don't have a hair on your ..... ." Followed by "Oh yeah". Sound familiar?

[Rick]

That's just one step above, "Hey, ya'll! Watch this."

[Batch]

A couple of things we taught at SERE
1: Air bath, take all your clothes off an expose as much of your self to the sun, the UV radiation will kill most of the bacteria on your skin (and for many of you here....scare away any predators)
2: disposeable wipes, just read the directions and have at it.
3: without soap or a soaping/sudsing plant simply rinse your clothes in clear water several times, ring out between rinses and hang out to dry.

In our camp my Dad uses a solar shower, my brother hits which ever local bathing hole that doesn't have a big *** alligator in it and I use wet wipes.

While soap making is an important skill. I have more use for fermentation and distillation. You can also make vinegar as a deodorant. All kinds of things can be fermented and then distilled. You can drink the beverage, use it for a disinfectant and many other things.

I also boil water for hygiene. I usually use a paint can full of wood to boil a pot of water for heating my tooth brush, coffee and face washing water. I sit over the steam for a minute or so to loosen up my sinuses.

[Rick]

Uh. Just out of curiosity, how does he know a given swimmin' hole doesn't have a gator? I mean, they don't exactly put out "The gator is in" signs.

[crashdive123]

It's the one without bones along the bank.

[Rick]

Oh, well. There you go.

[Batch]

Well, actually it would be a bathing hole.

He usually just lies down in shallow bodies of water.

We are in the water all of the time. As a rule EVERY body of water will have an alligator in it at some point. You could almost count swimming pools as gators are found in them as well.

So, we don't really worry to much about them. But, you look for a body of water that has more points of entry and exit. Water that has fewer points of entry or exit allow alligators to do what they do best, ambush. Look for slides caused by the gator coming in and out of the water. Don't bath at dusk or dawn.

[Rick]

Yeah, right. I would have moss GROWING on me before I ventured into the water.

My wife and I were at a friend's house just outside of Tampa a few years ago. They live on a decent sized lake. A bunch of kids about 10 or so had just finished swimming in the lake. Now, mind you, everyone has pools in their back yard and they were in the lake.

I asked the kids if there were gators in the lake.

One of them said, "It's Florida ain't it?"

Sure enough...right where they had been swimming a six foot or so gator goes swimming by.

No wonder Floridians have the right to carry.

[your_comforting_company]

I like going back to these old posts and giving status reports.

Our laundry recipe above, ran out yesterday. We made the other half batch last night. The first half was made around the end of November, and lasted till the beginning of March. Thats a lot of loads for only half a batch! Our clothes might not smell like the tropical fruit of some hawaiian jungle, but it does smell nice and clean. I hope the other half-batch lasts 3 months. By then I'll have forgotten how much powders cost at the store!

[BENESSE]

I remember my great grandmother talking about making soap out of animal fat & lye, but was too young to really pay attention and commit to memory anything useful.
Anything to that, YCC?

[your_comforting_company]

I am trying to locate beef suet to try my hand at making lye soap. I have a LOT of wood ashes saved, but this will only make liquid soap. I really want to make bar soap for it's portability, but I will be trying this very soon regardless. Animal fat and lye will saponify and make soap, Ben. It looks a little tricky, but I'm about ready to have a go at it pass or fail. I know an old woman who still makes lye soap and she has volunteered to teach me, but she doesn't do it the old way.. she buys her ingredients from a catalog and makes what I would call "fancy soap".
I've been at the wife to save her beef grease for me, but that's like talking to a brick wall lol. Looks like the first attempt will be deer tallow and oak ashes. I'll keep ya posted brother. Apparently kidney suet is not a dietary supplement they stock at the grocery store, like they do brains lol.

[Winnie]

Give this a read Bee, It's a handy PDF.

http://www.thebiggreenidea.org/image...SoapMaking.pdf

Ooops, takes you to Big Green Idea site( one of my favourites) Type soapmaking in search bar and the pdf link comes up. Very good instructions.